Jan Karol Chodkiewicz
History Childhood Jan was born to Jan Hieronim (Hieronymus) Chodkiewicz and Krystyna Zborowska in Vilnius, Poland-Lithuania. He was their third child. They had 5 in total. Both of his parents came from very wealthy families, so his childhood was very easy. As a young boy, he began to become very interested in war and in strategy. Teenage/Young Adult Years As he grew older, he was taught by a local teacher and was eventually admitted into the Vilnius Academy. Once graduating from the academy in 1762, he went abroad to Spain, where he studied the art of war under Spanish military commanders. Adult Life After his service in the Spanish Military, Jan returned to Poland in 1764, where, after many years of loyal service, he was appointed Hetman of the Polish Military in 1775 by King Waldemar Krol, which was the top general in the military. Jan married Sophia Mieleck in 1772 and they settled down in Warsaw. Together, they had a son, whom they named Jan Mieleck Chodkiewicz, however, at the age of two, Jan Mieleck died along with Sophia because of a suspected food poisoning attack that was meant for the Hetman. The culprit was never found. Jan was devastated. However, he kept on pushing on and eventually was able to come to peace with the death of his wife and son. Jan married again in 1783 to Danika Kaczmarek and together, after settling down in Vilnius, they had four children. Beginning from the oldest: Leo Karol Chodkiewicz (April 22, 1786), Arek Liuz Chodkiewicz (April 30, 1788), Aron Fredek Chodkiewicz (April 30, 1788), and Aleska Liljana Chodkiewicz (April 22, 1792). Aron and Arek were twins. Tragedy again struck late in 1800, with the death of Danika, due to a combination of disease and hunger. Poland had begun to go through a bit of a famine and where Jan and his family were living in Vilnius, the famine was a bit more severe. In 1801, after a bit of difficulty, his son Leo, decided that he would leave and go to the United States in order to be able to ease the burden on his family. With Leo gone, the Chodkiewicz family was somehow able to provide for itself during the famine. During his time as Hetman, he helped his nation get past the assassination of a King as well as the death of the next king during a battle, led the Polish forces in two wars, and began the construction of better defenses. In the last few years of his service, the king of Poland, King Michiel de Ruyter fell ill. So as to avoid any potential change in how Poland was treated by other nations, the king order Jan to be the King's spokesman, as Jan had earned the respect of the Polish people and as well as the respect of many world leaders. It was not to be known of what had befallen of the King. He served in that position until he retired in 1806 due to illness. Wars He Led Poland Through Second Great Northern War Third Great Northern War Achievments * Began and completed the construction of the Coastal defenses at Gdansk * Began construction of the defensive walls on the Russian-Poland border and the Ottoman-Poland border. * Began construction of Lviv and the development of the Mine at Lviv * Started the Poland State Mining Company, though, it never grew to much